The Halls of Westwood [BxB]

Chapter 3

"Is Aiden here?" Beau asked. Austin sighed and pulled open the door completely. Aiden was sitting on the floor of all places, flipping through his Physics textbook and copying things into a notebook. The ends of his hair messily stuck out of a red and black striped beanie and he wore a baggy black t-shirt and jeans. He glanced up at Beau before a small smile broke onto his face.

"Hey, Beau"

"Hey" Beau felt a bit relieved that he wasn't going to be alone with Austin. He was sure Austin wouldn't hesitate to ask uncomfortable questions... He didn't seem to have the best sense of boundaries.

"I'm going out" Austin announced before casting a teasing smirk in Aiden's direction. "Have fun" He hummed suggestively as he grabbed a small bag from his side of the room.

"Shut up" Aiden scoffed. "Where are you going, anyway?" Beau decided to leave them to their conversation and took a seat beside Aiden. He watched carefully as the white-haired boy collected a few random items, stuffing them into his bag.

"I convinced the principal to let me continue dance so I found a group that only practices on weekends" Austin shrugged. "I'm meeting with them today and I am going to kick ass" And without another word, Austin left the room. Beau bit down on his lip as he stared down at the textbook. He wasn't even sure where to start...

He didn't usually study with other people. He had studied with Lukas once but it had been a disaster and Beau had ended up locking the handsome blonde out of the room until he could finish taking notes. From that point forward, Beau hated doing school work, taking notes, or studying in the same area as others... But Aiden had asked nicely and Beau just couldn't find it in him to refuse.

"You two seem to be getting along... That's a bit more than I can say for me and Markos" Beau chuckled. Beau and Markos could exist in the same room. They could share a few conversations, they could do small favors for one another, but they didn't do those things consistently. Markos had gone three days without even looking in Beau's direction...

"Austin is a pain in the ass" Aiden groaned. "But he's okay, I guess... And I thought you and Markos got along fine"

"We do... He's just a little too far in the clouds... We aren't always on the same page I guess" Beau shrugged. Aiden bit back a smile and nodded down at the textbooks.

"Come on, page forty-three"

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Markos sat on one of the old picnic tables outside, glaring at his messy cursive. Markos always had the worst handwriting imaginable... He knew about four people who could decipher it including his him and his father. The other two were just teachers he had had in the past... He had once joked that he'd become a doctor but his mother had taken him seriously and the two had had an hour-long discussion as to why that was a bad idea.

Markos bit down on his lip in frustration. Writing had always been a special talent of his. Whether it was poetry, short stories, or even an argumentative essay he had always been able to baffle and captivate his audience with his unique style. He liked using older words, words that had been nearly forgotten over time. He liked to hide a second meaning behind each sentence leaving anything he wrote up for debate on the meaning behind it. He was addicted to the feelings of confusion he could create with something as simple as ink and paper.

He wasn't sure when or why he had begun to love it, but he did remember his sixth-grade English class. They had been given an assignment involving poetry. Markos's teacher had been so impressed she had had him read his out to the class. And since he had been in an advanced placement with other kids who were actually interested in school, it had sprung a wild debate. The poem was about a blue jay living a simple life, unbothered by the world until tragedy hit. Or maybe it had been about the complexity of the world and how little time we take to look outside of ourselves. Markos wasn't actually sure what he intended it to mean, but he loved listening to others interpret it.